COST EFFECTIVE

AND NATURE
FRIENDLY
BUILDING
TECHNIQUES BY
LAURIE BAKER!

LAURIE BAKERS
WAY
OF ARCHITECURE
REVIE
W:1

SCHEDULE OF DESSERTATION
REVIEW

CONTENTS

WHO IS LAURIE BAKER?

LAWRENCE WILLFRED ( MARCH 2, 1917 APRIL 1,2007 ).

BRITISH BORN INDIAN ARCHITECT.
RESIDENCE THE HAMLET, TRIVANDRUM.
ONE OF (20)AWARDS PADMASRI (1990).
NOMINATED FOR PRITZEKER (2006).

Laurie Baker Living

for a cause
Our perceived thought that architecture
is a profession that can be practiced only
with enough money, has limited this
noble profession to metropolitan cities.
While doctors, on the other hand, are
practicing in rural areas and have made
their profession well known all over the
country, irrespective of the economical
background of the people. Construction
could be a means to achieve fame,
records and grandiosity irrespective of

CHILDHOOD
As the youngest
child with two elder
brothers Leonard and Norman and a
sister Edna. His father was the chief
accountant with the Birmingham Gas
Distribution Authority. At the age of
15, he passed out from the Edward
Grammar School in Aston, England; he
was an ordinary student with an
adventurous life.
He would accompany his father to visit
cathedrals and other old buildings and

The principal of his school persuaded his father to make

Laurie Baker opt for architecture as profession and send
him to the Birmingham School of Architecture. Bakers
adventure continued and while he was doing his
architecture, he went on a cycling tour of Europe with his
friends. The unfolding vistas of nature, landscape, cities,
the different life patterns of people and the differences in
the houses from place to place fascinated him, and that
tour proved to be a turning point in his life.

WHAT MADE MYSELF TO

CONNECT

HUMANITY
AND
LOVE

CHINA : As a doctor, nurse,

pharmacist
and pathologist.

He graduated in 1937, and thereafter became an associate

of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).In 1939,
the Japan-China war was at its peak and Baker went to
China to help the wounded as a volunteer with a group
called Quakers, after resigning from RIBA.
In the 1930-40s leprosy was a much-feared disease. So
much so that lepers were frequently burnt or buried alive
for fear of contamination and spreading of the disease.
Naturally, the sisters had not found anyone willing to go
and look after the leper colony. When Laurie heard of the
plight of the lepers he agreed to go until the sisters could

India and Gandhi ji

One day while on a walk through the city he happened to
see a board that said, Mission to Lepers Baker's interest
and curiosity were aroused, The Mission had been in dire
need of an architect.
Advances in medicine meant leprosy was no longer an
untreatable disease. Instead of the existing asylums and
colonies they now needed to build many new hospitals to
treat these leprosy patients. For Laurie, this was finally a
chance to use his architectural skills to help people in
need. Laurie had no second thoughts and true to his word
he arrived in India in 1945.

 Through Quaker associates, he was introduced

to Gandhi Ji who at that time was there; Gandhi
Ji expressed his concern over the state of Indian
architecture and asserted that much good could
be done in rural India by committed architects.
Gandhi Jis philosophy and his charismatic
personality thrilled Baker.
For the first three years he travelled all over the
country helping the leprosy mission, and in the
process he got exposed to indigenous
architecture and was amazed at the way in
which simple materials could be exploited to
produce buildings with refined aesthetics and
lasting qualities. These formative years laid the
foundation of Baker's approach to architecture.

Baker met and married an Indian medical doctor,

Elizabeth Jacob, and the two of them worked for
years in the Himalayas, building and operating
schools and hospitals, working with lepers and the
poor. In 1963, Baker and his wife moved to the
southern state of Kerala, Elizabeths homeland,
establishing themselves in the city of Trivandrum in
Baker has been able to transform the Gandhian
1970. Working with local materials and exploring
philosophy through architecture by practicing it for people
indigenous architectural traditions, Bakers
who actually needed it. His every project is like a small
adventure in architecture started realizing.
scale industry within itself, changing lives of people.
Laurie Baker has been committed to not only learning
from and using traditional Indian architectural techniques
and technology, but also building with traditional Indian

ARCHITECTURAL PRINCIPLES

COST EFFECTIVENESS
USE OF LOCALLY AVAILABLE MATERIALS
RESPECT FOR NATURE
AVOIDANCE OF ENARGY INTENSIVE MATERIALS
ELIMINATION OF REDUNDANT DETAILS
WASTAGE MINIMIZATION
SPATIAL PLANNING

LAURIES MOTTO

LOW COSTRY A HABIT

AND A WAY OF LIFE , BY
REUSING EVERYTHING ,
FROM BRICK TO GLASS
BOTTLES, AS BUILDING

WHAT HE SAYS.
I DONT THINK IVE EVER BEEN INSPIRED BY WHAT OTHER
ARCHITECTS HAVE DONE BUT MORE BY WHAT ORDINARY
CRAFTSMEN HAVE CREATED.
COST-EFFECTIVE HOUSES ARE NOT JUSTT FOR THE POOR,
THEY ARE FOR EVERYONE. THE EQUATION THAT A COST
EFFECTIVE HOUSE IS A HOUSE FOR THE POOR, IMPLYING A
BAD LOOKING HOUSE, CAN DEFINITELY BE PROVED
WRONG.
THE PRACTICE OF AN ARCHITECT CANNOT BE DIVORCED
FROM THAT OF A BUILDER.

BAKERS GREAT SORROW

ABOUT INDIAN GOVERNMENT
POLICY MAKERS WAS THAT
THEY HAVENT THE FAITH IN
THEIR OWN MATERIALS.

HIS POPULAR CONSTRUCTION

TECHNIQUES
USE OF RAT TRAP BOND
FILLER SLABS
ARCHES
TERRACOTTA ROOFING
FRAMELESS DOORS AND WINDOWS

MORE INNOVATIVE METHODS HE

ADOPTED.
DIFFERENT BONDING TECHNIQUES FOR
BRICKS.
PERFORATED BRICK WALLS.S
USE OF DISCARDED BOTTLES , INSET IN
WALL.
USE OF BRICKS INSPITE OF LINTELS
CURVED WALLS
RUBBLE MASONRY

THESE MEHODS AND TECHNIQUES LED

TO CHARACTERISTIC ELEMENTS OF
BAKER'S STYLE.
JALIS

TRADITIONAL ROOFS
STEPPED ARCHES,
OVERHANGING EAVES
SKYLIGHTS
BUILT-IN FURNITURES

POPULAR
TECHNIQUES

WHAT IS RAT TRAP BOND?

This double-wall technique uses bricks on edge with a cross
brick between each and produces a 9-inch thick wall with an
insulating air cavity in between.

HOW A COMPLETED
MASONRY LOOKS...

COMPLETED RAT TRAP BOND

MASONRY THE MANGO HOUSE

 Surprisingly, this technique

reduces the number of bricks
required by 25%, thereby reducing
material used, including mortar
(1:8 mix), and overall cost.

Rat-trap technique is equal to the

strength of a solid 9-inch wall in

WHAT IS A FILLER SLAB ????

Lightweight, inexpensive
materials such as lowgrade Mangalore tiles,
bricks, coconut shells, glass
bottles, etc. are used as
filler materials in filler slabs
to replace the redundant

WHY FILLER SLABS???

The reason why, concrete
and steel are used
together to construct RCC
slab, is in their individual
properties as separate
building materials and
their individual limitation.
Concrete is good in taking
compression and steel is
good in tension. Thus RCC

SIMPLY SUPPORTED SLAB CROSSSECTION.

The fig. indicates the neutral axis and also tension concrete in the bottom
fibres of the slab which is in tension but the top fibres will be in compression.

Tension in a slab is on the bottom fibre and

compression on the top fiber. that means if we want
to optimise the structure we can remove concrete
from the tension zone where it is not much needed.
thats the key behind filler slab construction.

LLER MATERIALS
LLER SLAB
Bricks
Tiles
Cellular
Concrete
Blocks
Pots
Waste
bottles

ADVANTAGES O

FILLER SLABS IN LAURIES

BUILDINGS.

LAURIE BAKER BUILDING

CENTER,
TRIVANDRUM.

COSTFORD, TRIVANDRUM

ARCHES
THE ARCH IS SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE IT
PROVIDES A STRUCTURE WHICH
ELIMINATES TENSILE STRESS IN SPANNING
AN OPEN SPACE.
THIS IS USEFUL BECAUSE SEVERAL OF THE
AVAILABLE BUILDING MATERIALS SUCH AS
STONE, CAST IRON AND CONCRETE CAN
STRONGLY RESIST COMPRESSION BUT ARE

TYPES OF ARCHES.!!!

CORBEL ARCH

FLAT ARCH

SEMI-CIRCULAR ARCH

SEGMENTAL ARCH

ARCHES IN BUILDINGS

COSTFORD,
TRIVANDRUM

THE SALIM ALI CENTRE

FOR ORNITHOLOGY AND
NATURAL HISTORY AT
ANAIKATTY NEAR

MANGLORE TILES FOR ROOFING

Mangalore tiles(also Mangalorean tiles) are a type

oftilesnativeto the city ofMangalore,India.

These red tiles, prepared from hardlateriteclay, are in
great demand throughout Indi
These were the only tiles to be recommended for
government buildings in India during theBritish regime.
They are a popular form ofroofingand are preferred
overconcretedue to their good quality.
They provide excellent ventilation especially during
summer andaestheticallyas well.

 Some of them are especially made to be placed

over kitchen and bathroom for the smoke to
escape. Over a period of time, these tiles become
dark to black from constant exposure tosootand
smoke.
They are unique and are made or available in
different size and shapes depending on the users
need.

MANGLORE TILES IN BAKERS

BUILDINGS.

NIRMITI KENDRA,
TRIVANDRUM

THE HAMLET,
TRIVANDRUM

These tiles are not

onlyeco-friendlybut also
cheap, durable and costs
only one third that of
cement. Some of the
buildings which are 100
yrs. old still have tile
roofing. These tiles are
suited for regions
MANGLORE TILE AS AN INFILL FOR
experiencing
heavy
ROOFING!!!!

TERRACOTTA FLOORING
Flooring is often of terracotta tiles or colour oxides.
The bed is made out of broken brickbats (this
saves wastage of brick), over which a 3 mortar
layer is laid and tiles are placed over it.
Various patterns and designs are worked out,
dependent upon shape, size of tiles, span of
flooring, and clients personal taste.
These tiles require little maintenance and are
cheap. Also the patterns of tiles are visually
attractive. Most commonly, tile shapes include
square, rectangular, hexagonal, triangular or can

HOUSE OF MR. VIJAYAN, VADAVALLI, COIMBATORE.

(FORMER DIRECTOR OF SALIM ALI CENTRE FOR
ORNITHOLOGY
AND NATURAL HISTORY)

FRAMELESS DOORS AND

WINDOWS
Door and window frames are not actually
required. They are responsible for almost
half the cost of timber used. Avoiding
frames considerably reduces the cost of
timber.
Door planks are screwed together with strap
iron hinges to form doors, and this can be
carried by holdfast fittings carried into the

The simplest frameless

window consists of a
vertical plank (9 wide)
set into two holes, one
at the top and one at
the bottom. This forms
a simple pivotal
window. Wide span
windows can be
partially framed and
fixed to walls or can
have rows of pivotal

CHARACTERISTIC ELEMENTS

JALIS

INDIAN COFFE HOUSE,

TRIVANDRUM.

1.CECNTER
FOR
DEVELOPMEN
T STUDIES.
2.IISE
,
TRIVANDRU
M
3.LAYOLA
WOMENS
HOSTEL,
TRIVANDRUM.

TRADITIONAL ROOFS
A SIGNIFICANT BAKER FEATURE IS
IRREGULAR, PYRAMID-LIKE STRUCTURES ON
ROOFS, WITH ONE SIDE LEFT OPEN AND
TILTING INTO THE WIND.
BAKER'S DESIGNS INVARIABLY HAVE
TRADITIONAL INDIAN SLOPING ROOFS WITH
GABLES AND VENTS ALLOWING RISING HOT
AIR TO ESCAPE.

THE HAMLET, TRIVANDRUM

STEPPED ARCHES

OVERHANGING EAVES

SKYLIGHTS

Mr. Vijayan

BUILT-IN FURNITURES
Much of the
furniture used
by COSTFORD
is built-in.
These are
eitherof brick
or rubble
masonry raised
above floor
level. Raised
rubble masonry

REFERENCES
http://arch-essays.blogspot.in/2005/01/laurie-baker-living-f
or-cause.html
http://
www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S010459702003000400012
http://lauriebaker.net/index.php/life/india-and-gandhiji

THANK YOU !!!

SMITA PATLE